A Short Biography of Mike Helbing

Mike Helbing is a sculptor living in the Chicago area that has been making art since he could crawl. One of the themes underlying his work is a personal understanding of the human place in the natural order of things.

Mike grew up in the Midwest with a short eye opener of a couple of years on the Eastcoast in the New York area. Slated to be an engineer he attended Purdue University for three years. After spending a mind enriching and life changing tour of duty with the US Army in Vietnam, Mike returned to the world and spent the better part of the next three years studying art at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. After graduation the next twelve years he saw work as a waiter, potter, painter, sculptor, factory man, surveyor, sewer inspector, float builder, and government artist.

With a partner, Mike ran an art job shop in Indianapolis for six years before moving to Chicago in the mid eighties. Mike got married in 1986. In 1991 Mike graduated from Northern Illinois University with a Master in Fine Arts in sculpture. 1992 saw Helbing receive a Fellowship from the State of Illinois Art Council. He continued participating in shows.

In 1995 Mike began to work with Richard Hunt and moved into the position of vice president at Sculptural Services. In this capacity he was in charge of production and installation of large sculptures including works for Richard Hunt at Meijer Sculpture Garden in Grand Rapids, Michigan, including a fifty-five foot high stainless steel sculpture at St Joseph, Michigan, sculptures in Springfield Village Park, located in Augusta, Georgia, and at Midway airport in Chicago, Illinois.

During this time Mike forged ahead with his own work installing public sculptures in Hutchinson, Kansas, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Quebec, Canada. He continues to consult with other artists to help them realize their works. Mike has served on granting boards and on advisory groups. Mike has been very involved with the National Vietnam Veterans Art Museum as a member artist, chairman of the board and as curator. He is married to Wendy Ritchey, a beautiful, fabulous, vivacious, sexy, painter/art therapist with whom he shares a house, two children, Joseph and Florence, and a cat named Ralph.